Futurama

Kiss my shiny metal Xbox.

As a huge fan of the Futurama TV show, I must admit that I was pretty worried about this game. After all, when a show that's being made into a videogame has been (sadly) canceled, you'd find it easy to neglect the game. Luckily, that isn't the case here.

At first, the game's cel-shaded look wasn't working for me, but after a while, I began to appreciate it. The TV show often uses cel-shaded animation, so it's a natural fit.

As for the game itself, it's a fairly solid, if somewhat uninspired, third-person action game. For the most part, the stages are fun to explore and, like the graphics, are faithful to the show, with references aplenty. The control takes some getting used to, though, so be ready to adjust.

To keep things interesting, the gameplay cycles between the show's three main characters (Fry, Leela, and Bendereach voiced by the show's voice actors). Instead of letting you choose a character, each one has a set number of stages. It works out so that you switch to the next character (and their completely different gameplay style) just as you might be getting tired of the current one.

Sure, Futurama isn't the most innovative game out there, but I dug it. Fans of the show will get the most out of it, of course, but it should appeal to anyone with a sense of humor.